Pluralism in Practice: Case Studies of Leadership in a Religiously Diverse America

By Elinor J. Pierce. Orbis Books, 2023. 264 pages. $34/paperback; $27.50/eBook.

As the United States grows increasingly diverse, it is vital that we learn to root our national identity in pluralism, which engages different people in a common society even as they continue to fully embrace and develop their diverse identities. While the First Amendment provides the essential legal underpinning for respecting religious diversity, it requires only tolerance of different religions by the government, where a healthy society of diverse groups must be founded on respect and support for one another.

Pluralism in Practice can be an invaluable resource for individuals, monthly meetings, other congregations and communities, and anyone committed to doing the ongoing work of forging a society that works for all of its people. Written by the research director of Harvard University’s Pluralism Project, the book collects 12 case studies that share real-world conflicts or dilemmas that have arisen throughout the United States regarding religion.

Some cases concern two religious groups in direct conflict, such as a frustrating case about an Evangelical Christian pastor proselytizing at a Sikh parade. Others are more general, such as wrestling with how diverse communities can support one another in the face of bigotry and violence.

In addition to Christians and Sikhs, the book also deals with cases involving Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Zen Buddhists interacting with one another or with U.S. society at large. Naturally, author Elinor J. Pierce provides the facts of the specific events in each case, but she also helpfully shares the perspectives of participants involved in the controversies, which were gained through interviews that included the interviewees’ thinking at the time and, in some cases, how their views have changed.

All 12 case studies share a common structure: Pierce presents the dilemma a community was facing, questions for reflection, and the way the dilemma was addressed. It is an ideal approach for engaging with these challenges and encouraging readers’ growth.

As Pluralism Project director Diana L. Eck writes in the book’s afterword, the case study method, inspired by Harvard Business School, forms a “pedagogy for pluralism” by placing readers in the shoes of people facing the kind of quandaries that are inevitable in a diverse society. Through learning about how to make a pluralistic society function in this way, we build skills to fulfill our role in our own communities.

I would recommend reading both Eck’s afterword and her one-page definition of “pluralism” at the start of the book before diving into the cases. While in one sense pluralism is simple to define, as in the first sentence of this review, it is also susceptible to misunderstanding or even misrepresentation, given its connection to diversity, inclusion, and the messy space of simultaneously holding one’s own beliefs strongly while allowing space and respect for others to hold differing beliefs. “Pluralism is not relativism, but the encounter of commitments,” Eck writes. Together, Eck’s contributions provide invaluable context and useful advice on how to get the most out of the book, whether with a class (as seems to be its original intent) or on one’s own.

To review the book, I did read it alone: trying both a straight read-through of some cases and also pausing to answer the questions for reflection in a journal for other cases. The latter approach encouraged me to engage more deeply with the challenges and appropriate actions required by a multi-religious society such as ours, although reading the case studies all in one sitting was still interesting as a kind of contemporary history.

In the end, I think the best way for Friends to read and benefit from Pluralism in Practice may be within a meeting’s adult religious education class, should there be enough people interested. The questions for reflection would be familiar to any Quaker who has addressed queries, and the potential for discussion among a group would allow all participants to learn from one another, even as they all learn from Pierce’s laudable reportage and discerning questions.

Regardless of whether one finds a group to support engagement with Pluralism in Practice, the book is valuable for any reader as a way to wrestle with what is truly required for a pluralistic society to be a reality, to more fully understand the kinds of choices and actions it requires, and to practice thinking through some of the challenges that can arise.

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Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven came to the Religious Society of Friends through the lived witness of peace activists and other Quakers; the space that Friends hold for unprogrammed worship and universalism; and Quakers’ literary traditions of journals, pamphlets, and this magazine. He works in higher education communications, and lives in Newark, Del.